Fire In The Sky
by The Inimitable Enigma Cypher
Summary: What happens when one of the world's most renowned scientists is thrown once more into a situation that he may not be able to solve on his own? AU, Part Four of my ongoing series; currently on hiatus.
1. This Thing About The Supercriminals

**Fire In The Sky**  
_By The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_

**Chapter One: This Thing About The Supercriminals...**

_Late November, 1940; 10:03 p.m..._

New York City.

Many called it a city of opportunity. Others called it a cesspool of crime. Others still called it the cultural center of the country; after all, it was the first place new arrivals in the country would arrive, settle down.

In his apartment/laboratory in the city's East Village, one of those 'new arrivals' was in his study, reading the day's paper and shaking his head at the article.

Well, technically, he wasn't exactly a new arrival anymore; Dr. Otto Octavius had lived in America for close to eight years now. And every day he lived in this city, he hated it even more.

Octavius had emigrated to America from Germany in the middle of 1932, in order to escape the dark memories of his past. He hadn't had a normal life since he stepped off the boat, and resented it quite a bit. His first three years were by far the hardest, and he didn't like to think back on them often.

His first year in America started out normally enough; he had gotten a job at one of the city's best laboratories, and had even found a girlfriend. Soon, things started to get rough, when his boss, a shady businessman by the name of Norman Osborn, had started asking him to build these strange devices, which he later learned Osborn had been using in bombs, to destroy all rival businesses. When he confronted Osborn about this, the sinister businessman had threatened both his life and that of his girlfriend. This ended in a fight that left the building destroyed and Octavius seriously afflicted by radiation poisoning, brought on by the explosion of a small experimental reactor. He had almost died. But he had decided that he was going to find the evidence to clear his name and put Osborn behind bars. Eventually he found all he needed to expose Osborn and the two had fought atop the Empire State Building, with Octavius coming out the victor. Osborn was promptly arrested and thrown in prison for various counts of arson, murder, and other related charges.

Then not six months after that, his then-fiancée was abducted by the Russian Intelligence Service, the SVR, in order to force him into building them an atomic bomb. He refused. Instead, him and a good friend of his, a renowned biologist named Curt Connors, went overseas to Moscow to try and find her. After a week, they had found her (or, more correctly, she found them), and the SVR was shut down.

Then a year later, Octavius received a phone call one afternoon, telling him he needed to go down to a nearby police station, Precinct 92, and that it was important. He learned that someone was out to end his life, but nobody knew who it was. As soon as he had walked out of the precinct house, he had been snatched off the ground by a giant birdman, who turned out to be an assassin working for the mastermind. Octavius escaped the birdman's clutches, and the incident was forgotten for a short time. It was brought back into sharp focus when another assassin was sent. This attempt ended horribly, when Octavius' friend Curt was gunned down by the assassin in a fit of cold blood. After that, Octavius had devoted every waking moment to finding the mastermind, a man who called himself 'Scrier' and who later turned out to be none other than Norman Osborn, escaped from prison and with a deadly vendetta. The two of them fought once more, and once more Octavius emerged victorious, but not without serious repercussions; Osborn was dead, and he himself was seriously injured in several ways. He got through it all in one piece. However, he had never quite been the same.

Right now, however, his mind was focused on the paper he was reading, and the bad news that was splashed across the front page.

"This is getting ridiculous." he said aloud, shaking his head again. "These people are becoming more and more audacious. It can only bode ill..."

"What's ridiculous?"

His wife, Rosie, had just walked into the room, two cups of tea in hand. She handed one to him and took a seat on the arm of his chair.

"The situation in this damn city; that's what is so ridiculous." Octavius replied, in that thick German accent that he still spoke in, pointing towards the paper. "Do you see this? The number of superpowered criminals has risen dramatically in this city. More and more people are becoming victims of these... these imbeciles in costume."

He had been following the news on the superpowered situation in the city; when he wasn't working on his experiment, anyways. He couldn't help but be concerned; he had already been wrapped up in several situations involving supercriminals. He knew how ruthless they were.

"I don't like this situation any more than you do. Let's hope it gets better soon." Rosie said as she put her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"That's all we can do, for now." he replied, looking back down at the article, taking a sip of his tea. "Especially since not even the police can handle them all. This city's becoming a madhouse."

"I know what you mean. They're causing a lot of damage citywide." Rosie said. "Not to mention, a lot of people are being victimized, even killed..."

This was a reference to an old acquaintance of theirs, Police Capt. George Stacy, who had recently lost his life in a supercriminal altercation. He had been trying to save a young child who had been in danger at the time.

"It's only going to get worse. Mark my words, it will get worse..." was all Octavius said in reply.

Rosie did not have anything to say to this. Instead, she asked, "I have to ask, because I'm curious... how soon do you think your reactor will be completed?"

"Not for a while, I believe." he answered, setting his cup on the table, before standing up and walking over to his desk. He flipped open the notebook that was sitting on its surface, looking through the schematics he had drawn out. "Fusion is still an unproven science. It's unknown, even to me, if it will ever be practical. The problem is-" here, he flipped to the next page, "-that a successful fusion reaction will require extremely high temperatures to initiate a chain reaction. There's nothing this day that can produce temperatures high enough-" He slammed the notebook shut, before locking it in a desk drawer, "-to rival those on the surface of the Sun."

"Wow." was Rosie's reply. "That hot? How is that even possible?"

"As I said, right now it's not." Octavius answered, leaning against the edge of the desk, thinking. "Not with human technology, anyways."

"Well, if I know you, someday you'll figure it out." she said, a smile on her face. "You always do."

"I appreciate the confidence..." he said, a half-smile crossing his own face. "But it might not be for a great many years that this technology becomes practical."

Rosie was silent a moment. Finally, she said, "You know, I find it endearing, when you speak with such passion; even about your work. It reminds me that you're still the same as when I met you."

Octavius came up short, here. This was a strange twist in the conversation.

"As much as I'd love to stand here all night talking with you about everything that comes to mind, I'm pretty tired." Rosie continued. "And from the look on your face, I'd say you are, too."

"I must admit I'm rather tired..." was Octavius' response as he broke off in a yawn.

"That's why I'm going to bed." Rosie said. "Join me?"

"Sure... maybe I'll be able to think better in the morning." Octavius replied, following Rosie down the hall.

--

_2:24 am..._

Many blocks away, the sole occupant of the eighth floor apartment was asleep, having had a rough day. She was still trying to get her life back in order; she had spent the last five years of her life in prison. A small sacrifice to ensure the safety of a man she found herself drawn to. She had been released only a month earlier, and was still trying to reacclimate to a normal life.

That night, though, she was not sleeping easy. For the last year or so, her dreams had been haunted by a memory; one of a hitman she had once had an altercation with. The dream was always the same; the hitman gunning her down, a malicious smile etched across his face. But it always got worse.

This night, however, before it took that turn for the worse, she awoke with a start, gasping, her hand flying up to her chest. It took her a minute to calm down. At least one part of the dream _was_ real; she had been shot. Twice. Fortunately, she survived, but it led to the very series of events that had landed her in prison.

"Only a dream..." she muttered, running a hand through her jet black hair. "Only a dream..."

She turned the lights on, walking over to the mirror on one wall, noticing the paleness of her skin, the redness around her eyes.

_You need a vacation._ she thought to herself.

Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, she looked out the window at the half-moon in the sky. She couldn't help but think on the last five years; how much her life had changed, was still changing.

The sound of heavy footsteps outside drew her attention towards the door, a moment before said door was blasted inwards, and two men entered the apartment.

_A break-in? And here I just thought I got my life back in order!_

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" A deep voice, rough, split the eerie silence that had settled over the apartment in the wake of the door's implosion. The two men started to search the apartment, and in that instant, she knew what she had to do.

_I have to get out of here, and fast._

She sprinted for the window, grabbing a light tan trenchcoat off the wall beside the mirror. She flung open the window and crawled out, right before the bigger of the two men kicked open her bedroom door.

She crouched low on the fire escape outside the window, right out of sight of the man, who was still screaming her name.

_What do they want with me?_ she thought, confused.

At the risk of being seen, she took a look through the window to catch sight of the two strangest figures in her bedroom. The big man was stomping on the floor, obviously infuriated that she had eluded them.

_Unbelievable._ she thought, infuriated. _I just can't have a normal life anymore, can I!?_

She quickly made her way down the fire escape, to the ground. She slipped into the trenchcoat, tying it shut and running out of the side street. She had to find somewhere else to stay for the night.

_I can't stay there anymore; I have to make myself scarce._

But where was there for her to go?

--

_8:00 am..._

Octavius did not wake easy the next morning. He laid in bed for a moment, the blanket pulled over his head, ignoring the ringing of his alarm clock.

_Oh, will you shut up already?_ he thought, pulling the covers off of him and turning the alarm off.

Yawning, he pulled on a clean pair of pants and a long black shirt, before slipping a green vest over his head. As usual, it made his hair stand on end. He tried unsuccessfully to smooth it out, before abandoning the attempt as he walked into the kitchen, to get something to eat. On his way back to his study, he caught sight of his lab assistant, Dr. Carolyn Trainer, who was sprawled across the couch in the living room, sound asleep.

_Now when did she get here?_ he thought, bewildered. _She wasn't here last night..._

He walked into his study, where Rosie was sitting, reading a book.

"Am I the only one who noticed a stowaway on the couch?" he asked, confused.

Rosie looked up at him and said, "Oh, you mean Carolyn? She showed up about three in the morning. She said something about her apartment being broken into. She said she was not going to stay there, no way, no how. And I don't blame her; there's been a lot of break-ins lately. I didn't want to wake you, so..."

"Was she home at the time?" Octavius asked, concerned.

"Actually, she was. She escaped through a side window and had to run down the fire escape before she was spotted." Rosie said in reply.

"These criminals are getting more and more daring." he said, shaking his head. "I hate this city more and more every day, you know that?"

"I'm pretty sure I already knew that." Rosie said, a bemused smile on her face.

"It just seems like this city is getting worse and worse every day."

"That's because it is." Rosie said in agreement.

"At least someone agrees with me." Octavius said as he sat back down in his chair. He was thinking about something, and he couldn't help but ask.

"By any chance, did she mention anything unusual about the intruder?"

"I'm not sure." was Rosie's reply. "If she did, I don't remember."

"I'll have to ask her, then." he said, resting his head on his closed fist as he stared at one of his reactor blueprints that was tacked to the wall. "I'm still concerned about the number of superpowered criminals that continue to appear in the city. If only Curt were here... he always found these kind of discussions interesting..."

Rosie didn't know what to say to this; she knew how badly he had been affected by his friend's untimely death; he had been there when it happened, and had tried to stop it from happening. He had been a bit too slow to stop the gunman, and he still couldn't get over that fact.

"At least you did what you could to stop it from happening to anyone else." she said reassuringly, placing one hand on his shoulder gently as she looked down at him, noticing the sad look in his eyes. He could never talk about that day without feeling some sort of emotion. How could he not? It was because of an attempt on his own life that Curt had lost his. How does one forget that sort of thing?

"But it still didn't bring him back, or save his life." he replied, before shaking the thought from his head. "But I'm not going to think about that now. I can't. All it will do is get me in a foul mood, and I've got things that need to be done."

Rosie did not have a reply to this.

She didn't need one, really. Someone else had spoken.

"What can't you think about?"

Carolyn was standing in the doorway; still half-asleep, it looked like.

"Sorry for showing up in the middle of the night, by the way." she replied, leaning against the door-frame. "I just couldn't stay there last night. Not after what happened."

"It's no problem, Carolyn." Octavius replied, gesturing for her to take a seat. "At least you're alright."

"You're not kidding." she said as she took a seat on a nearby couch, her hand to her head. "I was lucky to get out of there last night. They caught me completely unaware."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Octavius said sadly. "Do you have any idea why they broke in?"

"I do, actually." was Carolyn's reply. "I heard as much when they entered the apartment. They were looking for me."

"For you!?" Rosie said, stunned. "Why would they be after you?"

"I honestly have no idea. Something's telling me I don't want to know." Carolyn said, running a hand through her jet black hair as she thought for a moment. "Whatever the reason, it certainly would have only turned out horribly. I had to escape before they found me. They came impossibly close."

"That's terrible." Octavius said, shaking his head. "Why do people do this?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." Carolyn said. "I do know that my apartment is now a complete loss. They blew a wide hole in the wall to enter through, and as I was running out of the alley after descending the fire escape, I saw smoke blowing out the window. So, once again, I've lost all my research. I have to once again start all over. And all because these superpowered types think they own the city."

"Superpowered types?" Octavius asked. "You mean they had unnatural powers?"

"Yes. The one who blew a hole through my wall seemed to be charged with electricity. And the one who kicked my bedroom door down must have been the same person who destroyed your friend's apartment; he looked for all the world like a giant rhinoceros."

"Not him again." Octavius growled, putting his hand to his head. They'd had experience with the rhino-person before; he had once destroyed Curt's apartment. Now he'd struck again.

"Yes. Him. I recognized him; he'd broken into my bedroom shortly after I'd already escaped through the window." Carolyn replied, breaking off in a yawn. Clearly she had not slept much last night. "I was secretly watching him from the outside."

"Wouldn't that be a dangerous thing to do?" Rosie asked. "I mean, what if he saw you?"

"Someone of his size would have a hard time catching me."

"You're probably right..." Octavius said, "...but still... anyways, did you call the police?"

"Yes; when I got here, I asked Rosie if I could use your phone."

"What did the police say?" Rosie asked.

"That there was nothing they could do until morning." Carolyn said, shaking her head. "Which is their way of saying they're not going to do a damn thing."

"This is just wrong. How is it that the police can't stop this from happening?" was Rosie's reply.

"Too many of them are appearing, all at the same time."

"But still, you think they would be able to do _something._"

"Excuse me, could I be alone for a minute?"

This last sentence came from Octavius. Rosie looked over at him and said, "Why do you want to be left-"

She broke off when she saw the look on his face; she followed his gaze over to a picture of Curt that was hanging on the far wall. Of course. It had been exactly five years since his death.

"Of course. We'll leave you alone." she answered, and her and Carolyn left the room, shutting the door behind them.

Octavius sat there a minute, before standing up and slowly walking over to the picture.

"How could I have let this happen to you? It shouldn't have ended like that..."

He walked back over to his chair and sat down on the edge, his hand to his head.

"Why did this have to happen?"

_-To be continued..._


	2. A Dangerous Situation

**Chapter Two: A Dangerous Situation**

_8:03 am..._

"So, how did it go last night?"

This coming from the woman seated behind her desk in an Upper West Side penthouse apartment. She could only hope that the 'mission' she had assigned to her subordinate had gone as planned.

"H-How did what go?" the electrical man said, looking down at the floor. He knew what his boss was talking about.

"You know what." was the icy reply. "Don't play dumb with me. How did your mission go?"

The electrical man was reluctant to reply. He hated to admit that he failed.

However, his failure to reply was, in and of itself, all the reply that she needed.

"You failed. Didn't you?" A statement, not a question. "How could you possibly fail!?"

"She escaped before we could capture her!" was the electrical man's answer as he looked up from the floor. "I don't know how! We searched the entire apartment, but she was gone!"

"HOW DID SHE ESCAPE!?" the woman shouted, slamming a fist on the desk. Barely into her thirties, her hair was a shining silver, and she had a sort of savage beauty about her. "I practically handed her to you!"

"How the hell should I know!?" the electrical man shouted, trying to hold his powers in check. He had trouble with that when he was angered. "I told you; we tore the place apart, and she was gone!"

"So once again, you have failed me." the mastermind said, her hand to her head. "At a time when we cannot afford to waste time. You _know_ how crucial this is, Electro! I cannot have failure!"

"I know what's going on!" Electro said. "You think I wanted to let this happen? Come on, Silver, you know me!"

"The fact is that you _did_ let it happen. This should have been easy. But you let her escape."

"If you want, I can go after her again." Electro said.

"There will be no need." the mastermind said, putting her hand up. "Somebody else will handle that." She took a sip of her drink as she waved Electro out. "I will call you when I need you again."

Electro did not reply as he left the room. What was there to say?

Behind her desk, Silver Sable stood up abruptly, walking over to a cabinet on the far side of the room. Flinging the door open, she grabbed a dart rifle out of the gun rack inside. Slinging it over her shoulder, she headed out the door.

"If you want something done right..."

--

_12:27 pm; the same day..._

By this point, Rosie had left to go to the University where she taught as a professor of English Literature, and Carolyn was trying to go back to sleep after nearly falling asleep at the table over breakfast. This left the apartment silent, as Octavius was the only one up and about.

He walked into the kitchen, yawning, to find something to eat. On the way in, he turned the radio on, tuned to a news station, like it usually was. He made himself a cup of tea, listening to the 12 o'clock news.

"...and in other words, the superpowered siege of the city is growing stronger by the day..."

"How long did it take you to figure that out?" Octavius muttered, looking out the window at the overcast sky. A snowstorm was going to break soon, he knew.

"...another attack was reported just last night, in the Lower East Side..."

"And this surprises you?" Octavius said, rolling his eyes, taking a sip of his tea.

"...sources have now confirmed that this time, the attack occurred at the apartment of noted geneticist Dr. Carolyn Trainer, for reasons unknown..."

"Heh, if only she was out here to hear this." Octavius said to himself as he picked up a nearby newspaper; the one he had been reading yesterday.

"...only the latest in a series of attacks by the same two supercriminals..."

"The same two, eh?" Octavius asked himself, reading the article again.

Lost in the article, he did not notice when the news broadcast wound down.

Or for that matter, when Carolyn walked up behind him, reading over his shoulder the same article.

"It's getting worse." was all she said. "Somehow I'm not surprised."

If Octavius was taken by surprise at her sudden appearance, he did not show it. He simply replied, "Yes, it is. But you know that better than most. You just missed the news broadcast. They mentioned what happened last night."

"I heard the whole thing already." was her reply. "I had the radio on in the guest room. There's no way I'm going to be able to sleep, so I just laid there listening to the broadcast. I haven't been able to sleep well for quite some time."

"Why might that be?" Octavius asked as Carolyn took a seat across from him, resting her head on her closed fist.

"It's nothing, really." was her reply as she averted her eyes, not looking up at him. "It's just this dream I've been having."

"Ah, that would explain it." Octavius said, nodding, as he reached over to switch the radio off. "Care to explain to me what happens?"

It was a moment before Carolyn could bring herself to tell him. She didn't like to talk about it, really.

"I imagined him. Tombstone." she replied, drumming her fingertips against the table. "It's that night re-enacted all over again. The night he showed up at the lab a few years ago."

Octavius did not reply to this. He knew how badly that night had shaken her; she still never talked about it much.

"But it gets worse." she went on, her voice shaking. "He always... he kills me by the end of the dream. And sometimes the mode of death will differ. But always, he is there, that... that malicious, evil look on his face..."

She could not go on. She closed her eyes tightly, and the hand that had previously been drumming on the table clenched into a fist. Octavius could only imagine what she was seeing, but he wasn't going to ask.

"That sounds horrible." he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't imagine how that has to... how it affects you..."

"It's been the same dream for over a year." Carolyn replied, looking at him. "I can't get rid of it. Every time I close my eyes, he reappears. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to take this."

Once again, Octavius did not have a reply.

"What I don't understand is this; if Tombstone is dead, then why am I having this dream at all?" she went on, looking away again. "It's not like he can come back to finish the job; of this, I am certain. I mean... I saw him die..." Her voice trailed off. She could not continue what she was going to say; that she was the catalyst behind his death. It was a painful subject.

"I'm sure it can't last forever." Octavius finally said, looking away as well. "One day the dream will cease to recur. For now, just don't let it get to your head."

"I remember you telling me that once." she replied. "I've tried to follow that advice. But it's hard when that which haunts you sneaks up on you in your sleep."

"I understand that."

The room was silent before Carolyn said, "I don't really want to talk about this. I can't. I have a hard enough time facing this when I'm asleep."

Octavius did not say anything more about it.

He heard the front door open downstairs in the sudden quiet, heard footsteps upstairs, then Rosie walked into the room.

"Good afternoon, you two." she said by way of greeting, taking a seat at the table.

"Good afternoon yourself." Octavius said, looking over at her. "You're home early."

"The Empire State higher-ups sent us home because of the impending storm." Rosie replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"That explains a lot."

"They didn't want us getting caught out in the storm." Rosie said, pointing towards the window. "They say it's supposed to be bad."

"Then I'd probably better go now; I'm going to try and find a new apartment." Carolyn said, getting to her feet, grabbing her coat off the back of the chair. "I'll be back later."

"Alright, see you then." Octavius said, watching her walk out the door.

Once again, silence reigned over the room until Rosie broke the silence.

"I heard on the radio this morning; the police may have found a way to stop a lot of the superpowered attacks in the city."

"Did they, now?" Octavius asked, curious. "How so?"

"I don't remember a lot of the details, but they were talking about this experiment they're developing." Rosie said in reply, getting up to pour herself a cup of tea. "I think they called it a 'super-soldier' experiment. A way to match the powers of those that these new mercenaries would be fighting."

"They're going to create super-powered mercenaries to take down the super-powered criminals." Octavius wondered aloud, his head resting against his folded hands as he looked over at her. "Interesting."

"That's what I said." Rosie replied, sitting back down beside him. "Do you think it will work?" While she wasn't usually one for conversing about these types of things, Rosie often asked anyways, just to know what he thought.

"Hmm... will it work?" Octavius wondered aloud again. "I think it could. Just as long as the mercenaries in question don't get a God complex like the supercriminals and turn to crime themselves."

"That _would_ defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?" was all Rosie could say to that.

"In so many ways." said Octavius as he reached for the radio to switch it back on, then thought better of it. "They had better be careful with whatever they do to bring this about. The last thing this city needs is more supercriminals, especially ones with police experience. They'll know ways to avoid capture that most ordinary supercriminals would not."

"I didn't think of that."

The two fell silent after that, until Octavius got to his feet and said, "I think I'm going to go for a walk. I just need to think on a few things."

Rosie just nodded as she handed him his coat off the back of the chair she was sitting in.

"Maybe a walk will do you some good." she said as he took it and slipped into it, already fumbling for the shades in his pocket.

"I hope so." was Octavius' response as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back soon."

Without another word, he left, shutting the door behind him.

--

_1:13 pm..._

"You don't understand! Something really bad is going to result from this!"

This coming from Silver Sable, who was currently on the phone with Capt. Jean De Wolff of the 92nd Precinct. She was using a nearby payphone, trying to stay as inconspicuous as someone with a rifle slung over their shoulder could look in the middle of New York.

"So what you're telling me is that an unknown terror organization is going to bomb the city?" DeWolff asked. "Somehow I'm not convinced."

"I'm telling you, there's someone out there who's going to-" Her sentence was interrupted by someone knocking on the glass door impatiently. Sable glared at the man and went to reach for her rifle, and the man ran off. "There's going to be a disaster, and you're not going to do anything about it!?"

"If what you say is true, we'd have heard about it long before you." was DeWolff's reply as she wrote all this down. "You do know that calling in a hoax is illegal, right? And that if we find you, we're going to arrest you, right? We have enough problems without people doing this."

"You think I'm making this up to entertain myself!?" Sable literally screamed into the headset. "As a sick joke!? What kind of police are you!?"

"Don't you dare talk to me like-"

"Like what?" Sable shouted. "LIKE WHAT!? Like the police force who is going to have the deaths of millions of citizens on its hands!? You'll have to excuse me if I find your police to be undeserving of my respect! People are going to die, and it will be _your_ fault!"

Before DeWolff could reply, Sable slammed the headset down and walked out of the phone booth.

_How can they mistake this for a hoax? What possible motive would I have for making something like this up?_

A message over her two-way caught her attention.

"Hey, boss? We got your two guys you sent us to retrieve. What do you want us to do with them?"

"Not so loud!" Sable replied. "I'm not in headquarters; anyone could have heard that!"

"Oh, sorry."

"Just lock them in one of the holding rooms back at headquarters." Sable told him. "I've yet to find my own target. After I find her, I'll send you to retrieve the fourth."

"Understood." came the reply.

"Good."

Just then, Sable caught sight of someone across the street; a black-haired woman, walking with her face towards the ground.

When she looked up, it was a catalyst for recognition.

_There she is._ thought Sable as she ducked into a back alley. She could do this a lot easier with no one freaking out.

Slowly reaching for the dart rifle on her back, she thought, _I just hope I can make this shot, with all of these people around._

Catching the black-haired woman in her sights, her finger slowly tightened on the trigger...

--

_1:27 pm..._

"It's been a while since last I've visited, old friend."

By this time, Octavius was standing at his friend's grave in the New York cemetery. He'd been there every year on the anniversary of his death. This year was not to be any different.

"A lot of things have been happening in this city, you know." he continued, as if he were talking to his friend in real life. "The superpowered situation is getting worse by the day. People are being victimized because the police can't do anything about it." A moment of silence. "Do you know that Capt. Stacy was recently killed? Yes, in a supercriminal altercation. He was trying to grab hold of this stupid kid, who decided he wanted an upfront seat for the action. Got crushed under a ton of debris. But he managed to save the kid." A sigh. Octavius looked up at the overcast sky, which was heavy with clouds. "A lot of people are afraid to even leave their own homes. They fear being targeted. And nobody can blame them, really. These criminals are dangerous. Maybe too dangerous. They've no inhibitions. Nothing can stand in their way, so they're getting to be more merciless than anyone could have expected."

He knelt down, here, putting his hand atop the gravestone.

"I wish you could be here now. I know how you always found these types of discussions interesting." he said, his words whipped away by the wind. "Every day, I regret not being able to stop it. Not being able to stop what happened. It really wasn't... it wasn't your time to die."

He looked down at the ground, his other hand to his head.

"I just don't understand why this happened. Why you had to be the one to pay for my mistakes. It was _me_ that the Chameleon was after. But you paid the ultimate price instead." He couldn't help it. He slammed his fist on the ground, his eyes clenched shut. "You paid the price for what _I_ did! If I had never talked you into going to Moscow with me all those years ago, when Rosie was abducted, the Chameleon would never have had a motive for shooting you! _You_ died because _I_ asked you to become involved!"

He put his hand back up to his face, wiping a tear from his eye.

"I hate this! I hate that you wound up in the Chameleon's sights because of my stupid mistake!" he howled, overcome with emotion. "You took a bullet that was meant for me!"

Pushing his hair out of his face, he got to his feet as the snow started to fall.

"I'll be back later. I... I'll talk to you again soon."

He walked away, his head ducked down to keep the wind out of his face, as the snow intensified. The storm had broken.

--

What Octavius did not notice as he left was the figure crouched overhead in a tree, clutching onto a branch, trying to remain silent. He had been watching, observing, since Octavius had left his apartment. This was something he often did, if only to make sure that nothing happened.

Once the figure was certain that Octavius was out of sight, he grabbed hold of a lower branch with his left hand, deftly swinging himself to the ground, landing on his feet. He looked up at the sky, noticing the heavy snow. He looked back in the direction that Octavius had just walked, double-checking to make certain he was nowhere in sight.

"What has happened to you these last few years?" he said, unable to raise his voice above a low growl. An altercation years back had seen to that. His hand unconsciously went up to his chest, his finger coming to rest over the scar that a bullet had once made there. "Certainly more than has happened to me, I suppose. My life came to its end five years ago, after all..."

--

_4:33 pm..._

"Electro, there is something I need you for."

Silver Sable was back at her headquarters, several hours later, her plan on the verge of becoming reality. There was one last piece of the puzzle, she knew.

Electro, who was sitting in a chair across the room, had been silent up until this point.

He asked, "What's that, then?"

"Maybe if you would come over here, I could show you." was Sable's reply.

Electro stood up and crossed the room, standing at attention in front of her.

"I have myself acquired the person who was supposed to be your target." she said first. "I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourself. There is one last person we have yet to retrieve, and he is by far the most dangerous."

"Who might that be?" he couldn't help but ask.

Sable did not reply as she opened a file that was sitting beside her. Opening it to a full-page image, she turned it in his direction. The picture depicted a man of about 30. Although the picture was in black and white, Electro could guess that the man more than likely had brown hair, and dark eyes to match.

"He doesn't look that dangerous to me." Electro said.

"You don't know of him, then." Sable replied. "His name is Dr. Otto Octavius. Those who have run into him in the criminal underworld know him better as Doctor Octopus."

At that, Electro said, "Wait, I've heard of him! Wasn't he the guy who whacked that Scrier person a few years back?"

"Why, yes, actually that would be him. While he's not in the supercriminal business, he's a high-level risk nevertheless. Despite his appearance, he's quite volatile." Sable said, looking up at Electro seriously. "You and O'Hirn are to go and retrieve him."

"J-Just the two of us?" Electro stammered. "Alone? With no backup?"

"I thought I could trust you with this kind of job." Sable replied, getting to her feet. "Of course, I suppose if you're too afraid, I could-"

"N-no, we can handle this." Electro said quickly. Best not to lose the boss's trust. "We'll have him by tonight."

"That's what I like to hear." Sable nodded, taking her seat again, gesturing towards the door. "You're dismissed."

Electro quickly left the room, trying to hide the flash of fear in his eyes. Sable watched as the door clicked shut behind him, before looking back own at the file on her desk.

_I hate to have to do this._ she thought with a sigh. _But it's not like I have a choice in the matter. It's either this or let the city be destroyed._

It's either this, or millions of people will die...

-To be continued...


	3. The Gathering Of Five

**Chapter Three: The Gathering Of Five**

_7:27 pm, the same day..._

"Otto, I've got to go out for a bit. I forgot something at the University earlier."

Octavius looked up from the article he was reading in a scientific journal. Rosie was standing in the doorway, coat in hand.

"Just make sure not to be gone too long." He said, a half-smile on his face. "This storm is supposed to get worse."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Rosie said, walking over to him, giving him a peck on the cheek before walking out the door.

Octavius watched her walk out the door, then turned his eye back to the article he'd been reading a minute earlier; it was an article on radiation and its various applications. Nothing he didn't already know, however, and he put the journal down and got to his feet, to go get something to drink.

Then, he heard what sounded like an explosion in the distance. He listened for a second, before dismissing it as, at worst, some kind of accident; a car smashing a light pole, maybe.

It was a lot harder to ignore, however, when without any warning the windows along the South wall of the lab imploded from some kind of concussive force. Octavius found himself blown across the room by the sheer force of the implosion, and he landed headfirst against the wall, momentarily stunned.

_My God, what was that? _he thought, still lying against the wall, his hand to his head, dazed. He tried to catch a glimpse of the two men who were even now storming the lab, but unfortunately, his glasses had been blown off his face and were lying several feet away.

"There he is!" one of them shouted, pointing towards him. Through the blur that his vision had become, he could see that whomever broke into his lab was in possession of incredible power; one of them seemed charged with electricity, the other was the rhinoceros person.

"Was there truly any need to enter that way?" Octavius asked, getting to his feet. "The door is over there."

"We weren't sure what to expect." the rhino-like man said, taking a step forward. "We've come here for you. We're to take you with us."

Octavius thought on this; if these two men were really who he expected they were, he certainly did not want to go with them. He had to think of a plan.

"Are you, now?" he said, taking a few steps to his left; he needed to get within range of his actuators, in order to call them to him.

"Don't move!" the electrical man shouted, drawing his pistol.

Octavius stood still for a moment, before asking, "Now what would a man with electrical powers be doing with a gun?" He took another step, still trying to find the link.

"I said don't move!!" the electrical man shouted, his gun hand shaking.

"Surely you can't think I'm up to anything?" Octavius replied, trying to keep his voice level as he kept moving. "I'm simply trying to retrieve my glasses. You can see for yourself they're lying on the floor over there. I can't see without them."

The two men looked at each other, before the rhino man said, "Then retrieve them. After that, you're coming with us."

Octavius knelt down to pick up his glasses, slipping them on his face at the same time he had established a connection; even now, his actuators were making their way towards him. But would he be able to get them on before the two men realized what he was up to?

"Wait a minute..." the electrical man said. "Do... do you hear something?"

"Yeah, I hear what sounds like a trap!" the rhino man said, leveling his pistol at Octavius, as well. "What did you do?"

"How could I have done anything?" Octavius replied, annoyed, getting to his feet. "You saw it yourself; I have not moved from this spot."

But even as he said that, his actuators smashed through the upstairs door, startling the two men who were standing across the room.

Unfortunately, this caused the rhino man to accidentally pull the trigger. A small dart struck Octavius in the neck before he had time to move.

"W-What? How did you-" Octavius began, before the tranquilizer took effect, and he fell to the floor, unconscious before he hit the ground. Unfortunately, as they were linked to his mind, the actuators no longer could defend their master, and they crashed to the floor.

It was a moment before the two superpowered assailants looked at each other. The electrical man nodded, and the rhino man walked up to Octavius, picking him up and slinging him over one shoulder. The electrical man paused a moment to leave a note on the desk, before they disappeared from the lab without another word.

--

Rosie returned to the lab an hour later, unprepared for the sight that would greet her when she walked in.

"Oh, God, what happened here?" she wondered aloud, looking around, taking in the destruction around her.

"Otto? Are you home?" she called out, walking further into the room. She had a bad feeling about this.

It was then that she noticed the note that the electrical man left on the desk. With shaking hands, she picked it up, and with every word she read, she became even more afraid.

_We have the man you seek. Rest assured, no harm will come over him while he remains with us; but if you come looking for him, this situation will change. Do not come looking for him. To do so will result in his death and your own._

She dropped the note, shaking where she stood. How could this happen!? Just when she thought that the troubles of the last few years could finally be put behind them!

She ran over to the phone, frantically dialing the number of the nearby police precinct.

--

Behind her desk, Capt. Jean DeWolff was startled when the phone rang. It had been unusually quiet today, particularly considering the supercriminal situation gripping the city as of late.

She picked up the phone and said, "Precinct 92, Capt. DeWolff speaking."

"Hello? This is Rosie Octavius, and I have a serious problem..."

Somehow this did not surprise her. God knows that Otto had already been in so many situations since his arrival in the country several years ago.

"What happened?"

"I think he's been abducted!" Rosie said, pacing the floor. "I returned to the lab several minutes ago to find a note on his desk that someone left there, saying that someone has him. They didn't identify themselves in the note, but they said if I tried to find him, he would..." here, she broke off, unable to finish her sentence.

"Can you come down to the station? We'll talk further about this here. I don't know if your line is secure."

"Yes, of course." Rosie replied. "I'll be right over."

She hung up and ran for the door.

--

Octavius awoke several hours later, still somewhat delirious. He tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't move.

_What did they use to knock me out? _he thought, fighting to keep his eyes open.

When finally the fog cleared from his mind and he got to his feet, he was startled at what he saw.

In one corner of the room laid an old associate of his, Mendel Stromm, looking as though he'd gotten into a fight before winding up here. He appeared to be only half-conscious, his hands tied in front of him. In the other corner was none other than Carolyn Trainer, who was still unconscious. It appeared as though they had taken her out from a distance; there were no signs of a struggle. In the third corner was a man he did not recognize, with brown hair. His hands were tied in front of him as he sat in the corner, wide-awake and apparently angry.

_What the hell are we all doing here?_ he thought, horrified by what he was seeing. _It was strange enough when they were all after just me, but this is obviously not an isolated incident._

Without warning, the door opened, and a man walked in. The man in question was rather old, with thin white hair, and he walked with a cane.

But this was not any old man, as Octavius realized.

"Tinkerer!? What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

Tinkerer was silent for a moment, before he said, "I did what I had to."

This response made no sense whatsoever. Octavius asked, "Can you clarify this?"

Once again, the old man was silent.

"Explain yourself!" Octavius shouted, frustrated at the man's refusal to answer his question.

"Oh, can't it wait until everyone else is awake?" Tinkerer asked, taking a step back.

"It shouldn't have to." Octavius replied. "You've done enough without holding back the truth from me."

When the Tinkerer once more refused to answer, he shook his head and said, "I do expect an explanation."

He walked over to Carolyn, hoping to get her to wake up. Maybe once everyone was awake, Tinkerer would explain himself.

He knelt down beside her, shaking her gently. It took him a second to notice what appeared to be a small puncture wound in the side of her neck; she'd been shot with a tranquilizer, like he was. That's why she didn't appear to have struggled; she didn't have time.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, old man." Octavius growled, looking back at the Tinkerer. "Neither of us even had a chance."

"As I intended it to be." Tinkerer said. Was he hearing things, or did Octavius hear a genuine note of regret in the elderly man's voice? "I was desperate, is all. She escaped us once. And you are notoriously difficult to capture. I couldn't take any chances."

Octavius did not answer as he continued to try and wake her up. Finally, Carolyn opened her eyes and said, "What happened to me? Where are we?"

"I don't know where we're at." was his reply as he helped her up. "But as to what happened, I think the old man had better start explaining himself."

Still only half-awake, Carolyn looked around the room, her eyes falling on the mysterious man who sat in the corner across from them. A look of fury overtook her face and her fists clenched in anger.

_**"YOU!!"**_ she snarled, glaring at the man with a homicidal intensity.

The man stood up and said, "This is not the time or place for this, Carolyn."

She appeared not to have even heard as she ran towards him, knocking him to the ground. It was a moment before Octavius ran forward, pulling her off of the man, trying to hold her back, even as she fought to escape his grip.

At the commotion, Mendel finally awoke fully, catching sight of what was happening.

"I take it these two know each other?" he said, getting to his feet and walking across the room.

"I would assume they do." Tinkerer said. "I'd say they've known each other for a very long time."

"I do not know this man anymore!" Carolyn shouted. "I used to think I did!"

"Perhaps an introduction is necessary." Tinkerer said, sighing. "This..." he gestured to the man who was still on the floor, his hand to his jaw where Carolyn had struck him, "...is Dr. Seward Trainer."

At this revelation, Octavius realized he'd heard of the man before; Carolyn had once brought him up in a conversation. Apparently they had a falling-out years ago. He was her father.

"I told you, this is not the time or place." Seward said as he got to his feet, not looking over at her just yet. "I don't know why I'm here any more than you do, but don't you think we should find out why we're here before you go flying off the handle?"

_**"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" **_Carolyn screamed, still in Octavius grip, once more trying to fight her way free. "Do not even presume to think I will let you! I do not know you anymore!"

Seward merely put his hand to his head as he leaned against the wall.

"O.K, now that we're all awake..." Octavius began, trying to stay calm, but not entirely succeeding, "...do you mind telling us WHY WE'RE HERE, OLD MAN!?"

"I suppose." was Tinkerer's reply as he took a seat at the desk in the room. "I must start by apologizing for the way you all had to be assembled. But you must understand that we had no choice."

"We?" Mendel asked, eyebrow cocked.

"Yes. Me and my employer." Tinkerer continued. "You see, about a week and a half ago, we got word of a credible threat to this city. We believe someone is going to try and destroy it."

"Do you know who?" Carolyn asked, still angry. She looked up at Octavius and asked, "And can you please let go of me?"

"Oh, right." Octavius said, releasing her, taking a step back. He looked over at the Tinkerer and asked, "And if what you say is true, why should we help you?"

"I was afraid you were going to ask that, Doctor." Tinkerer sighed, looking up at him, his expression grave. "If you don't agree to help, the entire city will be destroyed, along with everyone in it." A moment of silence. "I believe you are married?"

"Yes. How did you-"

"Imagine for a minute if this city is destroyed." Tinkerer went on. "And not just the city; but most of the surrounding states, as well. None of you would be able to get out in time."

"You can't be serious." Octavius said.

"I wish I wasn't."

"Do you know when this is going to happen?"

"We haven't a clue." Tinkerer replied, his gaze downcast. "It could be tomorrow, it could be two weeks from now. All we definitely know is that it will be within one month."

"One month? And you know this for certain?"

"If I wasn't certain, Doctor, I never would have done this."

"And this is the only way you can find out who's going to do this?" Octavius asked, disbelieving.

"We informed the police already. They mistook it for a hoax." Tinkerer said. "Same with the FBI."

"You honestly expect this to work out?" Carolyn said, glaring over at the Tinkerer. "I mean, you abducted us all and are holding us against our will! If you wanted our help, why didn't you just ask!?"

Tinkerer fell silent at this. He had no response.

"Did you have to go through all of this? Sending out your superpowered mercenaries to capture us all? It seems to be more trouble than it's worth." she continued.

"W-We weren't sure you would help if we asked." Tinkerer finally said in reply.

"Yeah, you're right, maybe I wouldn't." Carolyn said, turning her back on him. "And with him on the team-" here, she pointed towards Seward, who still stood silent in the corner of the room, "-I am most certainly not going to help you now!"

"What if I was to say you two would not even be working together?" Tinkerer said.

"Explain."

"The plan is a simple one: you four will be split into teams of two." he went on. "Two of you would be out in the city, trying to uncover who is behind this; two of you would stay here to analyze the information that the first team has gathered. You two would not be working together."

Carolyn turned back towards him, but that scowl was still there.

"With the four of you, we are sure to bring this plan to a halt. You four are quite literally our last hope." Tinkerer said, desperation in his voice. "Please. We need your help."

For a moment, there was only silence.

Finally, Octavius spoke up.

"I can't say I like this idea." he began. "Or what you did to us. But I'm not one to sit by and watch something like this happen. I'm in."

"Thank you." Tinkerer said, nodding. "Anyone else?"

"I'll do it." Seward replied next. "Not like I have much of a choice."

"I'm in." Mendel spoke up. "I'm not going to watch this city get destroyed."

Carolyn did not reply.

"Dr. Trainer?" Tinkerer asked. "Are you in or not?"

Carolyn was silent for a moment before she said, "Fine. But the minute I don't like what I'm hearing, I'm gone."

"Alright, so that's settled." Tinkerer said, sounding relieved. "Now, there is something I must tell you. This operation is top-secret. Not even the police know we're doing this, and they are not supposed to know. I ask that you remain on the premises while this operation is being carried out. We have set up four rooms down the hall. You will find your names on the doors to your rooms. We just don't want to take any chances with this."

"I have one question." Octavius said. "If I want to make a quick phone call, there's going to be no problem, right?"

"To your wife, I take it?" Tinkerer asked.

"Yes. I don't want her to have to sit around, worrying about me." Octavius replied. "She's been through that enough since we've met. She needs to at least know that I'm alright."

Tinkerer thought on this a moment.

"I can't see why not." he finally answered. "Just don't tell her what's going on. As I said, this is a secret operation."

"I understand that. I'm not going to tell her about this." Octavius said, rolling his eyes as he walked over to the phone, dialing the number and putting the receiver to his ear.

"Please be home..." he whispered under his breath, but after six rings, he knew she must have been out of the house.

"No luck?" Tinkerer asked.

"Nothing. She's probably not home." Octavius replied, shaking his head. "I'll try again later."

But there was another thought that was running through his head.

_What if she simply can't answer? What if something happened?_

--

What Octavius did not know, however, was that Rosie was home when he called. Had she bothered to look a little harder at the room when she entered, she would have seen that the phone line had been cut.

But she did not know this as she sat on the couch upstairs, worrying about the situation. She had only been home a short while, having talked to Capt. DeWolff about the situation. At the moment, there was nothing they could do but search the city.

--

"Alright, so before we go any further with this, we need to split you up into two teams." Tinkerer said, back at the lair. The motley crew of people that the Tinkerer and his mysterious benefactor had gathered were sitting around a table in another room.

"Don't worry, I've already picked who will be working with whom." Tinkerer replied, upon seeing the look on Carolyn's face as she glared over at Seward. "The first team will be the ones who are out in the field, so to speak. That will be Dr. Octavius and Carolyn."

Octavius looked over at Carolyn, who nodded and said, "I can live with that."

"The second team will stay here and analyze whatever evidence the first team uncovers. That will be Mendel and Seward."

Neither of them replied as they looked over at each other dubiously.

"Wait a second." Carolyn asked, realizing something. "You said me and Otto would be the ones out in the field. That means we're putting ourselves in the line of fire. What am I supposed to use for protection?"

"Heh, I was wondering how to bring this up." Tinkerer said, a crooked smile on his face. "We've come up with something you could use." He walked over to a locked box sitting on the far side of the room. "We actually kind of got the idea from Dr. Octavius over here."

"Tell me you didn't do what I think you did." Octavius said in a dangerous tone.

Tinkerer did not reply as he pulled out a key and unlocked the box.

"Carolyn, I believe you are technopathic?"

"Yes, I am..." she said uncertainly. "How did you know-"

"Your name is in the federal records." Tinkerer said, quick to explain. "All the people in the nation born with superpowers are registered when their powers are discovered."

"You looked through my records!?" she shouted, standing up abruptly.

"I personally did not. Someone else who will stay in the shadows for now; they have access to that sort of thing." Tinkerer replied, slipping the key back in his pocket. "How do you think we assembled you all together? We searched the records for people suitable for this kind of mission. You four came up."

"And what does my being technopathic have to do with _anything?"_ she asked, angered by what she had been told.

"Weeeeeeell... actually, if you could come over here a minute, I could show you."

Carolyn hesitated a minute before walking over to where Tinkerer stood.

"I am going to open the box. I want you to try and control what is in this box." he said, putting his hand to the box.

"Just open the damn box already!"

"If you insist." Tinkerer said as he flipped open the box. Almost immediately, four metallic tentacle-like arms shot from the box, imbedding the claws in the ceiling.

Over at the table, Octavius stood up as well, infuriated.

"You _copied my technology!?" _he screamed, pointing at the Tinkerer. _"You stole my design!?"_

"Hey, it wasn't my idea!" Tinkerer replied. "I assure you that your arms are still intact and are in this very facility as we speak!" He turned back toward Carolyn and said, "Can you establish a connection?"

"Of course I can, you imbecile." she snapped back, looking up at the arms, which were now standing over her, on all four claws. Slowly, she lowered the device, so that she could slip into the harness that the arms were attached to.

"My God..." she whispered after the arms were securely attached. "This is... different..." She took one of the claws in her hand, looking it over.

"The design is a little different, I'll admit." Tinkerer said. "The arms are lighter than the ones Octavius built. We thought they would be easier to handle."

"I see." Carolyn said, before falling silent. She looked at the Tinkerer and, almost as soon as she did, an arm shot out, striking him in the face.

"That's for sending your henchmen to knock me out." she growled, looking down at him.

Tinkerer got to his feet, holding his jaw.

"So I guess this makes us even." he said.

"I still can't believe you hijacked my technology to suit your own purposes, Tinkerer." Octavius said, anger still evident in his voice. "When this whole situation is over, you will answer to me for this."

"Sure." Tinkerer said as Carolyn looked back at him and walked over to the table. He followed her back over and took a seat. "By the way, Doctor, you will find your own arms on your bed when you enter your room. We had them brought here."

Octavius did not reply as he sat back down, but the anger was still there.

"Oh, and one last thing..." Tinkerer said as he flipped to a page in the notebook in front of him. "Obviously we can't have you all using your real names in a situation that calls for secrecy. My boss has come up with names for the four of you."

"Aliases? Do we really need to go this far?" Mendel asked.

"Yes." Tinkerer asked. "O.K, so I've got the list here. Carolyn, you've got the alias of Lady Octopus-"

"What kind of alias is that?" she asked, cutting him off. "Kind of obvious, isn't it?"

"Don't look at me; I didn't come up with it." Tinkerer asked. "Mendel, yours is Gaunt."

"Is that supposed to mean anything?" Mendel asked.

"Not really; the boss thought it sounded interesting."

"What a stupid reason." he muttered under his breath.

"Seward, yours is-"

"I am not using an alias." Seward cut him off. "I am fine with my own name. I'll be here, anyways, and no one will know who I am."

"Whatever." Tinkerer replied. "And Dr. Octavius... heh, I think you're going to like this."

"It had better not be anything meant to sound like something out of a bad B-movie." Octavius said, an eyebrow raised.

"No, it's not." Tinkerer said. "Apparently you've been given the alias 'The Master Planner'."

Octavius thought on this, and a wolfish smirk crossed his face.

"The Master Planner, eh? I like it."

"Told you that you would." Tinkerer said. "Any other comments?"

Nothing else was said.

"Excellent." Tinkerer said, closing the notebook and getting to his feet. "That's all I need for now. We'll meet back here at midnight."

Nothing else was said as they all left the room, Mendel and Seward heading one way, Octavius and Carolyn the other.

But when they got further down the hallway, Octavius abruptly turned around and shouted, "HOW could he do something like this? Copying my technology!?_ What _was he thinking!?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." was Carolyn's reply. She continued down the hallway, but she couldn't help but ask.

"I must admit though, the arms could be quite useful to me." She turned around and said, "Why did you never tell me how... how this feels? For the first time in my life, I feel like I could take on an army!"

"Heh, they do have that kind of effect." Octavius couldn't help but reply. "Let's just hope we won't _need _to take on an army."

They reached their rooms, and Octavius said, "I suppose I'll see you at the meeting tonight?"

Carolyn nodded as she walked into her own room.

Octavius stood at the door for a minute.

_I can't believe I'm even agreeing to this._ he thought, shaking his head. He entered the room, noticing that, as the Tinkerer said, his tentacles were sitting on top of the bedspread.

_At least he was as good as his word. But he better not have modified them._

He walked over to the bed and, almost as soon as he did, the tentacles stood up, the harness slipping over his head. Nothing seemed amiss with his arms, and he sat on the edge of the bed, looking over at a large painting that dominated the far wall.

_I can't help but wonder though; why did he have to get us involved?_

_And who's this man working for?_

--

"Well, Tinkerer? Do you think this will go as planned?"

Tinkerer nodded as Silver Sable appeared from the shadows, having been in the room the entire conversation, unnoticed.

"I think it will." he replied, gathering up the few papers that were scattered about the table, placing them back in a folder. "After all, none of them particularly want to see this city destroyed."

"What do you think I was counting on?" was Silver's reply. "Even if they don't want to help, they know they have to; the alternative is worse."

The room was silent a moment before Tinkerer asked, "Do _you_ really think this will work, though?"

"On the contrary, Tinkerer, I _know _it will work." Silver replied, walking over to the window, opening the curtain partway with a finger. "It has to. I hate to think of what will happen if it does not..."

_-To be continued..._


End file.
